Hey guys!  Curly here.  Grab your pail and shovel, 'cause I'm taking you to the beach!

Gumby has never been to the ocean before.  Last week we took her to the Mountain for the first time...this week I thought the ocean would be fun.  I let Mom and Dad come too.

I'm pretty sure she liked it.

We even got natural pedicures.  Mom says those are the best kind!

Smiles likes crabs just like Daddy.

Baby isn't old enough to play in the sand though.  Just us BIG kids.  And I'M the biggest.

Daddy and Smiles played out in the waves for a LONG time.  I was waiting to show Daddy my "chocolate mocha stir"!

Gumby gets really excited sometimes when she has never seen something.  She liked the waves a LOT.

Mom said she wishes Gumby didn't like sand in her mouth so much though.  AND she rubbed it in her eyes like Smiles.  I told them that wasn't very smart.

Mom and Baby liked sitting in the sand dunes.  It was really funny when Mom tried to walk back to the beach though!  She kept saying "Ouch! Ouch!" 'cause the sand was so hot.  (Well, Mom didn't think it was so funny, but Dad sure did.)

And that's our family day at the beach!

Red, White, and Blue Greetings

The best we got...

And what the rest of the photos looked like.

Have a fun and safe 4th, from our family to yours!

Tuesdays With Morrie Daddy- Mt. Rainier Edition

We had our family outing again this Tuesday.  For the first time since we got married, we went to our local beautiful mountain.  Mt. Rainer is very beautiful and we see it all the time driving around town, but we haven't made the trip to visit since we were both young.  We figured it was about time!  So, we bought an annual pass so that we can be sure to go more often this year (annual pass is the price of two entries, so if we go twice then it's paid for already).

Our fantastic four on the way up.  Poor Smiles taught us that he does not hold food well on winding roads =(.  Blueberry bagel luckily doesn't smell so bad when it comes back up.

I love the faces that Gumby gave me that day.  She is my easiest to photograph currently.  She doesn't turn away as much and isn't as fast as the other two.  I must stalk them like prey!

He needs a hair trim again, but MAN do I think that boy is Cuh-Yoot!

You could tell that the deer were in a protected park.  My children are not very quiet, but they didn't mind at all.  We got very up close with the loud crew and this deer just kept eating his lunch.

Curly saying, "Deer...Deer..."

I love this photo of the three of them!

We did NOT cross the river.  HA!  Handsome went over the bridge, but it was far too unsafe for the kids when we didn't have enough adults to help them across.

And Baby was of course a good sleeper.  I sure do love my Moby, and so does this little miss.

 A fun time was had by all.  I was very proud of Gumby for attacking the hiking so well.  She walked all by herself the whole way.  As  you may notice in her photos, she was very out of her comfort zone.  She has her tongue out when she is unfamiliar or uncomfortable with a place or situation and surely enough, the tongue was out very often.  But she faced it anyway, and didn't have many issues.  She did let us know that big stumps that are sticking up out of the ground count as VERY scary to her though.  (We had a freak out moment walking by some in the woods.)  Curly enjoyed her hike and Smiles had no issues, they didn't have to work as hard as Gumby.

Perhaps we will see you next week with another edition of Tuesdays with Daddy.  It all depends on if I have time to take photos and share them with you.

Because I love Gramps

Alternately titled Gumby and Baby's first trip to the beach.

We went to the beach the other day.  You have seen photos of this particular beach in the past, but it was during the colder season and the tide was nowhere near this far out.  And...well, we only had two kids then.

Gramps has been bugging for some photos, so you can thank him for this post.  While I don't have time to blog, I can make time for the old dude that I love so much.  He did spoil me with Baskin Robbins a few times in my youth after all.  I OWE him =).

(he doesn't know that I took the photo of his naughty trick...and he DID get in trouble for that)

It's not just the boy who likes to get dirty!

The only proof that Baby and I were there that day =).

And that's all I have to say about that.

Smiles and the Ant

My boy is all boy when it comes to bugs.  He somehow finds them in the house and brings them to me.  When he was eight months old or so, he caught his first fly in mid air.  He loves the bugs.

This afternoon the older three were jumping on the trampoline, when along came a large ant with wings.

Smiles:  "Well, hello mister ant!  How are you today?  I think I'll pick you up in my magnificent pincer grip."

Sisters:  "Ahhhhhh!  Ohhhhh!  Ewwww!  SMILES!!!!!!!  Ewwwww, a bug!"

Daddy:  "What do you have there Smiles?  Bring it here."

Ant:  "Dude!  Who ARE you?  And WHY are you holding me by the wings!?!  OKAY!  OUCH...back to the wings...back to the wings...I'd like to keep my body intact!"

Mommy:  "Smiles, bring that to Daddy please.  NOW.  Smiles...SMILES!  We do NOT put that in our ear!  NOOOOOO!"  turned to Handsome, "GET that away from him NOW, he is putting it IN HIS EAR!"

Smiles, all the while smirking and laughing at his new toy.  His face changes from grins to anger and tears as he throws the ant to the ground.  Crying comes from our dear Smiles.

Ant:  "DUDE!  I was NOT going in your ear.  You don't taste very good you know...don't you know what a bath is?  Oh, wait, I like to eat wood with dirt on it all the time.  That red stuff that came out of you sure isn't my favorite though.  Anyway, that'll teach you!  DON'T MESS with ants DUDE!  We will bite back."

Poor Smiles sports his little bloody bite on his ear and learns:  You do not put ants in your ears.

Hopefully you can learn from his mistakes and not have to endure this one the hard way like Smiles.

Update on Tonya

I am so excited to inform you all that Tonya's adopting family submitted their paperwork this week!  That means that they are just waiting for a date now for their travel.

Pray for Tonya's family as they prepare for their trip.

Pray for Tonya, that she would have a wonderful connection with her forever family.

And pray for the rest of this family's adoption process.

I'll keep you posted when they get a travel date.  Thank you to those of you that have
prayed for and supported their adoption.  Yeay for Tonya!